Now, my concerns:
- Most descriptions and photos of the knife call it a teardrop jack, but there is almost a dogleg shape to this particular frame. It is especially noticeable when you look at the knife with the pen blade open and the spear blade closed. I've never seen a "dogleg teardrop" and I suspect this knife could have been cut down or somehow warped over time (if it is, in fact, as old as it purports to be).
- I've never seen a Remington with undyed white bone handles, full stop. The surface of the bone isn't like most knives from the era; it's fairly rough but not sawcut/jigged/textured. Almost like it's unfinished, but not uncut/unhewn. I don't believe these to be the original handles, nor am I able to find any evidence that the R173 ever shipped without a shield in any material.
- The spear blade looks legitimate for the knife, but the shape of the tang and the profile of the spine of the pen blade seem "off" somehow compared to the photos of legitimate R173s that I've seen in my research. I'm not sure how else to describe this, but it could indicate that the pen was replaced or taken from another knife.
- Not pictured, but there is some unevenness between the bolsters. From what I have seen, Remington was fairly good about the F&F of their bolsters. This seems almost amateurish, although I don't know if the quality improved towards the end near the PAL sellout or if they were consistent about it.